They say I am a good girl. That's a lie. And not the first one. My advice is: don't believe everything adults tell you. Especially don't believe insidious tales they conjure to keep you in line. Fair? Ha! Words can be prisons. I should know. I've lived in one of those "Once upon a time" prisons. It's time I came out.

Red. That's what the boys called me. And the girls too, but for different reasons. I'm not who you think I am. But why should you believe me? They never did.

Not when I told them Hugo Wolfe was no villain, but just a willful village boy I happened to have a crush on. Not when I told them I was getting too big to wear little girl capes with hoods that hid my golden hair. Not when I said I had better things to do than carry sweets to my wicked grandma. She was the worst of them all. It was her idea to make the red cape, to corner me into daily trips to her house, to keep me out of trouble long enough to marry me to a stinking lumberjack. Anything that was just for me was trouble. Be a good girl, stay out of trouble.

It was Hugh who taught me different. Good girl meant taking care of everyone but myself, spending my life in a cape that bound my arms and a hood that hid my hair. I was a beautiful child. That part was true. But it was also my curse. Everyone wanted me for themselves. Except Hugh.

You want to be married to a house? he said, during one of our secret walks in the woods on the way to Grandma's house. He never intended to marry me. He liked me just the way I was.

Why be good when you can be good at it? he said.

I had never looked at it that way.

And I was. We were. Until the day they butchered him in Grandma's bed. It should have been her. I was weary of her ridicule, her hard knuckles across my face when she suspected I had seen Hugh again. She said she would make sure I paid. Well, the blood is in her bed. And now she has to sleep in it.

All right, we never should have locked her in the closet, but she was crazy. When she saw Hugh, she charged him with the fireplace poker.

I never should have let him walk through that door. How could he convince her that I deserve my own life? When I fell onto the bed in tears, he was the one who held me together. It was not what they thought when they burst open the door, though we had done that plenty of times in the woods. The thing is, we didn't need my Grandma's bed to hold each other.

They killed him for it. Not for being in that bed, but for daring to ask for my life. Not my hand. Not my honor. Not my property. But my life. That was why they killed him. And that is why I will never be a good girl, and why I will always be what he was the first to call me: Red.
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This is how you bake bread to take to your Grandma: three risings and two punch-downs, so it will be light and airy and she can digest it in her poor health. Wear long gloves when you gather honey so the bees won't sting you. This is how you sew a red velvet hood for your head, with the lining on the inside and the velvet on the outside. Pack the basket carefully, with the honey at the bottom so it will not flatten the bread. Make sure the honey jar is sealed tight so it doesn't attract insects. Are you listening to me?

Never talk to strangers.

When you go to Grandma's house, be sure you wear your Red Riding Hood so the lumberjacks can see you. Don't dawdle and pick flowers and amble by the stream but go directly to her house and then come back home quickly. Otherwise you might get lost and then where will you be?

Never walk alone with a boy.

Be sure you are always polite to lumberjacks. You might need their help some day. How many times do I have to tell you: don't feed the animals. Otherwise they become pests. Don't you understand that we don't have enough food to feed the whole forest?

Never tell anyone where you are going.

When you get to Grandma's house, remember to lift the latch to open the door. Don't stare at your grandma, she doesn't like it. If she looks ugly, don't let her see it in your eyes and don't call attention to her aging. No one likes to be reminded of their impending death.

Never disobey your parents.

If Grandma is too ill to get up, you can make a snack for her with the food I send. Spread the honey on the bread like this. Make sure it's thin so it's not too hard to digest. And cut off the tough crust so it will not aggravate your Grandma's teeth. Be sure to give your Grandma a bath and wash her clothes. It's good practice for when you have a family to care for.

Never get into bed with anyone.

Be sure you get to Grandma's early so you can return while it's still light out. Don't wait until it's dusk. Why do you always have to me worry me like that?

Never fight back when a wolf assaults you or you might get hurt.

Come back. Please come back. Let it only be some silly accident that keeps you. Tripping on a log. Cutting your finger on the latch. Staying behind to help Grandma. Come back now. Now. Oh please. Oh God, if only you can remember to listen to me, nothing bad will happen to you. Will it?
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Long ago lived a very pretty girl with a scarlet hood who set off to her Grandma's house with a basket of food from her mother. Soon after she entered the woods, she met a wolf who would have devoured her but for the woodcutters nearby who would surely kill him. He sidled up to Red Riding Hood and asked her where she was going.

Not knowing it was dangerous to talk to strangers, she said, "to my Grandma's, who lives across the thick wood. She is ill and I have a cake and honey for her."

"Well," said the wolf licking his lips, "I'll go this way and you go that, and we shall see which will be there soonest."

The wolf then dashed away along the shortcut, while Red Riding Hood amused herself running after butterflies, gathering nuts, and making posies of flowers she found.

The wolf soon got to the old lady's house, tricked her into opening the door, and gobbled her up. Then he put on her nightgown and dove under the sheets, waiting for Red Riding Hood to arrive.

When she arrived soon afterwards, she lifted the latch and went straight to her Grandma's bed. Her Grandma was looking very peculiar from her illness.

"Leave the basket on the table and come into bed to warm me up," said the Grandma.

But Red Riding Hood was frightened by her Grandma's harsh voice and stepped back. "Dear me! Grandma," said the little girl. "What long arms you have got!"

"The better to hug you, my child," answered the wolf.

"But Grandma, what long ears you have got," persisted Red Riding Hood.

"The better to listen to you, my child," replied the wolf.

"But Grandma, what large eyes you have got," continued the little girl.

"The better to see you, my child," said the wolf.

"But Grandma, what terrible large teeth you have got," she cried, now a bit frightened.

"The better to eat you, my child!" exclaimed the wolf. Then he fell upon poor Red Riding Hood and ate her all up.